GI Confidential

Sergeants Sueño and Bascom #14

by Martin Limón

US Army CID Agents George Sueño and Ernie Bascom become entangled with a pushy tabloid reporter as they investigate a series of violent bank robberies throughout South Korea.
 
South Korea, 1970 A rash of armed robberies at local Korean banks doesn’t concern the American military—until a fatality occurs, and proof surfaces that US soldiers are behind the crimes. The case has been assigned to CID Agents Jake Burrows and Felix Slabem, but they certainly won’t do anything that might make 8th United States Army look bad. So Sergeants George Sueño and Ernie Bascom have decided to step in and investigate the robberies—and murder—themselves.
 
George and Ernie have their own problems to worry about, namely Katie Byrd Worthington, a pesky reporter for the Overseas Observer—an unsanctioned English-language tabloid that has found strong roots in South Korea. Katie has published a story that implicates Army higher-ups in both sex trafficking and treason, and the pressure is on for the CID to disprove her claims. But what if they aren’t false? As George and Ernie dig deeper into the case, they find themselves the targets of a very unflattering publicity campaign, but perhaps also something much more dangerous.

Genres: Novels, Crime, Mystery, Asia

384 pages, Hardcover

Published October 15, 2019

About the author

Martin Limon retired from U.S. military service after 20 years in the Army, including a total of ten years in Korea. He and his wife live in Seattle. He is the author of Jade Lady Burning, which was a New York Times Notable Book, Slicky Boys and Buddha's Money.

Reviews

[James Thane · Rating 4 out of 5]

For those unfamiliar with this series, Sergeants George Sueno and Ernie Bascom are U.S. Army CID agents serving in the South Korea of the 1970s. They're smart, tough and committed to solving the crimes assigned to them--and some that aren't assigned to them--often irrespective of the wishes of the brass above them in the military command. They're also always a great deal of fun to hang out with.

GI Confidential is the fourteenth book in the series and is up to the high standards of the earlier entries. It begins when Sueno and Bascom decide, on their own, to investigate a series of bank robberies that are being committed by four men who are clearly members of the U.S. military. Other investigators have been assigned to the case, but they are clearly much more interested in protecting the interests of the U.S. Army than those of the Korean people who have been robbed, brutalized, and in a few cases, murdered. Sueno and Bascom want to see the four get the punishment they deserve.

Digging into the case will prove to be a dangerous thing to do, but in the interim, Sueno and Bascom are assigned another case involving a high-ranking American officer who has allegedly been pimping European women to a high-ranking South Korean officer. Their investigations of both cases is compromised by the appearance of a woman named Katie Byrd Worthington, a reporter for a sleezy tabloid who seems determined to embarrass both the Army and Sueno and Bascom personally.

It's a fun read with lots of action and a great addition to one of my favorite series. One of the added benefits of reading this series is the insights you get into Korean culture and history. The author, Martin Limon, served ten years in Korea while in the U.S. Army and clearly knows the territory and the people. I'm already looking forward to the next one.

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

American soldiers are robbing banks, and some high level Korean officers are being accused of human trafficking. (Did they call it human trafficking in the 70's?)

Sueno and Bascom try to find out the truth, even though everybody else wants to cover it up. A bit repetitive.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite series. If you’re a veteran who served in the Far East this series will resonate with you. The irreverent, can-do duo of Sueno and Bascom are engaged in their usual battles with the military brass. GI’s are robbing Korean banks and there’s something strange going on near the DMZ between two generals: one American, the other Korean. Throw in an aggressive American woman journalist who is always one step ahead of CID and the narrative just flows and goes full speed ahead. Limon has lots of surprises for the reader regarding the national security angle of the plot. Can’t wait for the next adventure.

[3 no 7 · Rating 4 out of 5]

“GI Confidential” by Martin Limón is set in South Korea in the tumultuous early seventies and offers an inside look at life in the real Korea of the time. The United States armed forces had withdrawn from Vietnam, and the political world was divided among the Western powers, the Soviet Union, and Red China. The U.S could not leave Korea in the middle of a “Cold War.” Through the first person narrative of George Sueño, 8th Army Criminal Investigation Division, readers are immersed in the conflict between cultures, political powers, and crime. The book opens with a crime, a bank robbery by GIs. Bank employees are terrified because GIs had never robbed a bank before; this just did not happen in South Korea.

Limón skillfully blends historical perspective with a compelling search to find the real perpetrators of the crime, not just a politically correct choice foisted upon the team by the powers down the line. The investigation proceeds in an orderly and organized manner and is usually (but not always) in keeping with army protocol. During the process, readers get a personal look at the politics of war, the uneasy peace between Korean nationals and the U.S. occupying forces, and the cost of pursuing the truth rather than dispensing propaganda.

“GI Confidential” is not a story about war; it is a story about those who find themselves in the midst of a conflict that no one wants, no one can resolve, and everyone must accommodate. I was given a review copy of “GI Confidential” by Martin Limón, Soho Crime, and Random House. It is easy to read with compelling and humorous characters. The genuine respect Limón has for the Korean people and their culture is as unmistakable as his ability to tell a compelling and relaxed story about definitely not relaxing crime and war.

[Zeb Kantrowitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the fourteenth novel in this series about two military detectives involved in Korea during the 1950s. You would think that by this time Limon would just be walking through the stories. But this isn't true, Limon spends a lot of time, especially in his later books, talking about the problems of Korean society. After the armistice for the end of the War, Civil Insurrection, Police Action or some other euphemism, Korea lived under a brutal dictatorship, that was sanctioned by the USA as long as it was anti-communist.

There is a lot about this in the background to this story and how the ROK (Republic of Korea, South Korea) and the UN Command, each ignored youth prostitution and female exploitation, criminal elements in the major cities and US military bases. This book includes a rape, murder and robbery of Korean banks by a group of US GIs, where they murdered Korean civilians. There is also an attempted Coup d'Etat which the US helped stop, but only because they feared the country would be turned over to the control of the same Japanese groups who ran Korea under Japanese control.

[Tony · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 14th book in the Sueno/Bascom series, starring two Army CID agents in 1970s Korea, is very much like the 13 before it. There's an initial plotline about a string of bank robberies that appear to be pulled off by US soldiers. A second plot involves a high-level officer who's been acting a little strange, and there's a third that involves prostitutes being shipped up to a base near the border. The new element in this one is a brash lady reporter, Katy Worthington, whose keen muckraking skills bring her into conflict and then a loose allegiance with the CID heroes. As in the other books in the series, the plotting is fine (if a little over the top in this one), but the real fun comes from the detailed descriptions of Korea forty years in the past. 

[Gary Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

All of these books are set in Korea, during the 1970's, the two main characters are American soldiers, CID investigators. As one would expect, they get in to a great deal of trouble in their jobs. Often placing themselves between the 8th army and Korean civilians, as they make their way through investigations.

I fully enjoy this Sueno and Bascom series by Martim Limon. Each book has become a source of reliable enjoyment for me. So far there is one more book in the series to read, but I have hope there will be many more. I have been to Korea and enjoy the many cultural nuances and historical information these well written books provide.

[Monica · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I still appreciate and enjoy the setting and the period details of this series, I find that after 14 books, the characters are flat, have not developed or evolved, especially the smart aleck Bascomb, and I have grown tired of them. The criminal aspects of the plot (hunt for bank robbers who kill victims) are okay but the whole political business (an attempt to replace the repressive Park regime with a distant heir of the royal family) seems a pretty far- fetched and the annoyingly pushy reporter Katy Byrd Worthington is an over the top caricature.

[David C Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good but not as tight as others in the series. The investigations are into a series of murderous back robberies and a high command sex scandal that is not quite as it seems. The latter morphs into a standoff between a rebellious ROK general plotting a coup and an American commander and things get a little too chaotic. There’s also an irritating American reporter. As always, Limon is good on Korean and American relations and history. I hope the US army command is not quite as dumb as it’s portrayed.

[Larry Tressler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 14th in a series and I have read every one so far. In this one, Korea is stunned by a series of bank robberies committed by a group of GI's. Our 2 favorite detectives are assigned to the case to work with the local police. While at the same time, two factions along the southern boarder of the DMZ argue to the point of starting world war III. What could possibly go wrong? This was one of the better in the series and I can't wait to begin #15.

[Jeffrey Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite series. I’ve lived in South Korea since 1990 and have written articles about the 8th Army for the Korea Times so much of what Limon writes about is familiar to me. Love these books!

Jeffrey Miller, Bureau 39

[Naim Peress · Rating 4 out of 5]

This author is largely unknown but his praises should be sung. His mysteries are interesting, the characters fascinating and his descriptions of Korea are scintillating. Martin Limon should be read and enjoyed.

[Maphead · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was looking for something different, light and entertaining. This one exceeded my expectations. Now I need to read more of his stuff!

[Carol Fuller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since the author spent many years in Korea, he has a lot of interesting things to say which has significantly to the "who done it" of these books.